Wednesday, October 11, 2017
99th year • Issue 8
THE INDEPENDENT
Toledo beats Eastern Michigan SPORTS / 5 »
COLLEGIAN
www.IndependentCollegian.com
Serving the University of Toledo community since 1919
INSIDE
ENVIRONMENT
MEDICINE
Brunicardi to head UT cancer program By Emily Lorton Staff Reporter
Soccer suffers harsh loss in MAC play SPORTS / 5 »
Alpha Lambda Mu joins Greek Life after 10year gap
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COMMUNITY / 6 »
“If you’ve ever enjoyed an article, looked through a photo album or even met one of our reporters, we ask that you take the time, read our story and donate whatever you can.”
EDITORIAL Why we need your support on Day of Giving
OPINION / 3 »
Walking out of the darkness
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COMMUNITY / 6 »
“This issue clearly isn’t about skill.”
KEITH BOGGS The truth of Kaepernick’s protest OPINION / 3 »
City of Toledo says drinking water is safe By Benjamin Morse Staff Reporter
Now is not the time to flood the grocery store in desperate search of bottled water. Despite rumored reports, and an unsettling green hue of the Maumee River caused by a recent algae bloom, the drinking water in the city of Toledo is safe to drink, and has been since 2014. Professor of Environmental Sciences, Tom Bridgeman, reassured citizens at a recent press conference with Toledo Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson. “The Maumee River is over ten miles away from where we get our drinking water,” Bridgeman said. “Our water intake is in Lake Erie. Right now, the water quality at the intake is very good.” According to the Ohio Sea Grant research institute, a harmful algal bloom, often called a HAB, is any large increased density of algae that is capable of producing toxins. A report form WTOL states, “Runoff from area farms and lawns as well
“Our water intake is in Lake Erie. Right now, the water quality at the intake is very good.” TOM BRIDGEMAN Professor of Environmental Sciences
as wastewater treatment plants feeds the algae bloom. Many of those chemicals come into the lake through the Maumee River.” Although the water was never reported unsafe to drink, some Toledoans felt compelled to stock up on bottled water. Keith Meyer, a member of the community, tweeted out a picture on Sept. 27 of an almost empty grocery store shelf that was once filled with bottled water. Joseph’s Beverage Center, a local business, played into the sensationalism by displaying a sign that read, “Worried about
algae? We’ve got water.” Toledo Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson is adamant about clearing up the confusion. “We have been very vigilant in making sure that the water at the tap is safe,” Hicks-Hudson said. In an interview with NPR, Timothy Davis, associate professor of biology at Bowling Green State University, explained the lowered severity of the bloom and elaborated on the preparedness of water treatment facilities. “This is a bad year, but it’s not a record setting year.” Davis said. “Anytime there’s a bloom in the western basin of Lake Erie, there is always a risk to drinking water. Water treatment plants are wellequipped to deal with these blooms.” Andrew McClure heads the Collins Water Park Treatment Plant that monitors Toledo’s drinking water. McClure expanded upon the plant’s reliable procedures. “We perform more than 650 water quality tests
PROGRAM
Dr. F. Charles Brunicardi was named the new director of the cancer program Sept. 29 in the University of Toledo’s College of Medicine and Life Sciences. Dr. Brunicardi joined UT in 2016 as the chair of the department of surgery and chief of academic surgery for ProMedica. Now, he will add “director of the cancer program” to his title. “We are extremely fortunate to have someone with Dr. Brunicardi’s experience and expertise in surgical oncology, as well as translational cancer research, leading our cancer program,” said Dr. Christopher Cooper, dean of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences. As director, Brunicardi will organize clinical care, research and educational programs. Plans to recruit a new chief medical oncologist in collaboration with Dr. Lance Dworkin, chair of the College of Medicine, is just one change he plans to make. “We are working on
“We hope to be able to offer patients first in human cancer therapies.”
See Algae / 4 »
DR. F. CHARLES BRUNICARDI Director of UTMC’s Cancer Program
DR. F. CHARLES BRUNICARDI Director of UTMC’s cancer program
creating a Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials program. So, recruiting the new chief medical oncologist will help achieve that goal,” Brunicardi said. The department hopes to build a precision medicine program and wants to affiliate with ProMedica. “I have been working on this for 20 years and accumulating knowledge on how to build such a program,” said Brunicardi. “We hope to be able to offer patients first in human cancer therapies.” The team’s intention is to build Phase 1 clinical trials at the Dana Cancer Center, run by UTMC. Brunicardi said he prides himself on his excellent care and being able to teach the next generation of surgeons. “I love to teach, so students would be welcome to join in on any research See UTMC / 4 »
PARTNERSHIP
UT and TPS enhance business leadership By Bryce Buyakie News Editor
University of Toledo College of Business and Innovation recently partnered with Jones Leadership Academy of Toledo Public Schools. The goal of this partnership is to prepare high school students for higher education and the business profession, said Selina Griswold, UT associate professor of management and organizer of Young Executive Scholars. The Young Executive Scholars program will allow 13 high school juniors and seniors to take business etiquette workshops presented by UT and community professionals every month, Griswold said. The first workshop, on Oct. 4, introduced the students to the YES program, where they signed a form of participation, completed leadership exercises and discussed opportunities that exist in the business profession, Griswold said. The next two workshops will teach participants about business communication, including firm handshakes, verbal and nonverbal communication, how to interview, and a formal dining etiquette workshop that will include a professionally prepared meal, Griswold said. “We will have one of the faculty here, who teaches our networking class, to provide them the tools for networking in business,” Griswold said. The final two workshops will build off prior workshops, giving students practical experience with networking and interviewing, Griswold said.
“Our hope is to expand the program next year,” she said. “We just wanted to make sure it will work okay this year and expand it to possibly 30 students, but we would need additional funding to do that.” The anticipated total cost for YES is $3,500. It is funded by the College of Business and Innovation budget. Jones Leadership Academy was chosen because it is 98 percent African American and two percent Latino, as one of the goals of the YES program is to reach out to underrepresented students. If the program does branch out, it will seek out schools with similar demographics, she said. “The ultimate goal is to prepare students to be leaders in a global work environment and for success in higher education,” Griswold said. “We want them to graduate high school and be a pipeline to our business college.” Griswold said that she is planning a mentorship and peer mentorship program that will continue to monitor each student’s progress if they enroll at UT, she said. According to a UT Press Release, Ward Barnett, president of See Workshop / 4 »
Ohio universities partner to help fight health problems By Olivia Rodriguez Staff Reporter
University of Toledo president Sharon Gaber and Ohio University president Duane Nellis signed a memorandum of understanding at the Department of Education in Columbus, Ohio to form the Ohio Health Alliance for Innovation in Population Health on Oct. 5. According to a UT press release, Rick Hodges, former director of the Ohio Department of Health and a UT alumnus, was named director of the alliance to collaborate with other organizations in Ohio. The alliance was created to help combine expertise and community partners of both universities to fix key health problems such as opioid addition, health-care access, chronic disease and infant mortality, said Christopher Ingersoll, dean of Health and Human Services at UT.
“Our institutions represent two of the largest health-focused colleges in Ohio with well over 100 faculty researchers between the two colleges,” Leite said in a UT press release. “By combining forces and assembling teams of experts, we will be able to compete for the resources necessary to solve the population health problems in our region and throughout the state.” The first health problem they will combat is the opiate abuse problem, which will include more extensive collaborative research on use and abuse among different populations and explorations of best practice models to community education, treatment and prevention programming. This includes rigorous evaluations of outcomes of various approaches, said Leite. The College of Law and Voinovich
School of Leadership and Public Affairs are also involved in this alliance because there are health policies that Health and Human Services may not think about, said Ingersoll. The formation of the alliance began with a conversation between Ohio University dean of Health and Human Services Randy Leite and his UT counterpart Ingersoll. Leite said they have been talking about collaborative efforts between all the health colleges in Ohio, but only UT and OU showed interest. Ingersoll said OU students will be able to take some the classes offered here at their school and UT will be able to do the same with OU courses, which will be online. They hope to include all the colleges on both campuses, but for now it is only the See Alliance / 4 »